524.03 Time for Filing Motion
37 CFR § 2.120(h) Request for admissions.
- (1) Any motion by a party to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection to a request made by that party for an admission must be filed prior to the commencement of the first testimony period, as originally set or as reset. ...
- (2) When a party files a motion to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection to a request for an admission, the case will be suspended by the Board with respect to all matters not germane to the motion. After filing and service of the motion, no party should file any paper which is not germane to the motion, except as otherwise specified in the Board’s suspension order. … The filing of a motion to determine the sufficiency of an answer or objection to a request for admission shall not toll the time for a party to comply with any disclosure requirement or to respond to any outstanding discovery requests or to appear for any noticed discovery deposition.
A motion to test the sufficiency of a response to a request for admission does not necessarily have to be filed during the discovery period, but it should be filed within a reasonable time after service of the response believed to be inadequate and, in any event, must be filed prior to the commencement of the first testimony period, as originally set or as reset. [ Note 1.] Once the first testimony period opens, a motion to test the sufficiently filed thereafter is untimely, even if testimony periods are subsequently reset. However, if testimony periods are reset prior to the opening of the plaintiff’s testimony period-in-chief as originally set, a motion to test sufficiency will be timely if it is filed before the rescheduled opening of plaintiff’s testimony period. If testimony periods are reset prior to the opening of the plaintiff’s testimony period-in-chief, a motion to compel filed before a first trial period opens is timely. However, once the first trial period opens, a motion to compel filed thereafter is untimely, even if it is filed prior to the opening of a rescheduled or reset testimony period-in-chief for plaintiff. [ Note 2.] There is no provision in the rule for Board discretion to consider an untimely motion to test the sufficiency of a response to a request for admission. Trial schedules include a sixty-day period between the close of discovery and the opening of the first testimony period to allow time for the filing of any necessary discovery motions. Cf. TBMP § 523.03.
NOTES:
2. 37 CFR § 2.120(h)(1). Cf. La Maur, Inc. v. Bagwells Enterprises Inc., 193 USPQ 234, 235 (Comm’r 1976); Johnson & Johnson v. Diamond Medical, Inc., 183 USPQ 615, 617 (TTAB 1974) (motion to compel timely even if filed after close of discovery).